December 14, 2011

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 145

Whether you're a casual visitor to or voracious consumer of the Motherlode, you should know that Internet-based music-sharing like what takes place in these here pages is under direct threat from legislation currently being considered by Congress. SOPA or the Stop Online Piracy Act — which is set for a vote tomorrow (December 15) by the House Judiciary Committee — could potentially criminalize intermediary content providers like Beware of the Blog. Before snagging the amazing musical offerings dutifully referenced here, take a moment to call or email Congress to voice your opposition.

Benin There, Done That"Alokpon is the the greatest singer and the king of traditional Tchinckoume rhythm, a rhythm from the center of Benin, known for its water drums and Gotta drum which are made out of calabash. The Gotta is the biggest calabash that is commonly beaten with a shoe sole. Its sound is heavy and deep." (Description by Oro)

[Desperate to hear more? Oro has posted three other recordings by Alokpon here, here and here.]

CHAranga CHAranga CHAranga"José Fajardo was born in 1919 in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and played the traditional five-keyed wooden flute in a family band led by his father Alberto Fajardo, a clarinetist, and named Orquesta Hilda after his sister Hilda, its pianist. He worked as a policeman in Havana before joining a leading charanga group of the early 1940's, Arcaño y Sus Maravillas, when its leader, the flutist Antonio Arcaño, could no longer play flute. A few years later he started his own group, Fajardo y Sus Estrellas in 1949. His recordings for the Panart label were hits, and soon, his group grew so popular that Mr. Fajardo led three bands by the same name, sometimes taking a helicopter to play sets in different cities on a single night." (Bio reprinted liberally online)

Hell Is for Heroes"For Friedman's fifth recording, he is definitely exploring the progressive edges of modern mainstream post-bop. He's more sublimated as a voice, with guitarist Attila Zoller taking a prominent role as frontman, while the performances of bassist Richard Davis and drummer Joe Chambers provide perfect foils for Friedman's swashbuckling creative urges. While the pianist utilizes elements stemming from bop and the avant garde, the melodic and listenable ingredients are juxtaposed with challenging ideas, and the leader acts as a true ringleader in the midst of his three brilliant compadres." (Description by Michael G. Naston, from Allmusic.com)

Haacktivist"A fun thing about this album is also just how many psychedelic pop references are sprinkled throughout. Bruce Haack starts out Rain of Earth by saying “Well, this is a science fiction song about children from another galaxy who set their controls for the heart of the sun and ended up on our planet,” in reference to the Pink Floyd song Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. Colors has a reference with Bruce singing “In the crimson kingdom, there lived a Crimson King” set to a Joe Meek like moog oldies melody. O.K. Robot has Bruce referencing the HAL 9000 computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey, but instead of a song about a super computer controlling a space mission, the robot is told to mop the floor before a electro hoedown ensues. For anyone interested in the psychedelic children’s music movement that Bruce Haack helped develop along with Raymond Scott (which still has a powerful effect on the development and playfulness of children’s music), or if you are interesting in the early electronically laced pop works of people like Curt Boettcher, Joe Meek or Brian Wilson in the 1970s, definitely check out the mini masterpiece that is Jackpine Savage’s Together." (Review by Patrick, at Red Telephone 66)

Third Dream"Gulda was producing major compositions at 9 years old, he was performing in public by 12, winning international piano competitions at 14, in other words, a Mozart-like "wunderkind". By his mid-twenties his restless nature and boundless musical curiosity led him to feel constricted by the Classical concert world. After a decade as one of the world's great pianists in that genre (in particular as a foremost interpreter of Beethoven & Mozart piano concerto's) his hunger for new challenges and sounds led him to the Jazz world. His output from the mid 50's throughout the 60's is incredibly prolific; recording and composing relentlessly in both musical genres and slowly incorporating ever widening influences. He later became increasingly fascinated with modern music and eclectic genre combination's, even throwing multi-genre raves in his later years. This recording lies somewhere in between both worlds, having both the feel of chamber music and what came to be known as Third Stream." (Description by KingCake, at KingCake Crypt)